Product Description
Ruth Wright Hayre grew up in a close, genteel family that had prized learning since the days of the Civil War. At age ten, her grandfather, Richard Robert Wright, led by his remarkable mother, marched 200 miles to attend a school for emancipated slaves in a discarded railroad boxcar in Atlanta. When Union General Oliver Otis Howard came to the classroom and asked what message he should take back north, young Richard responded, in the famous exchange immortalized by poet John Greenleaf Whittier, "Sir, tell them we are rising."

More than a century later, Ruth Wright Hayre, like her great-grandmother, would lead children on a life-changing journey to learning. After a distinguished career as a teacher, principal, administrator, college professor, and finally as a member and president of the Philadelphia Board of Education, Hayre's faith in the power of education inspired her to take on her greatest challenge—to create the "Tell Them We Are Rising" program. With that program she issued a challenge of her own to the sixth-graders in two schools in Philadelphia's grittiest neighborhoods: graduate from high school, and she would pay their college tuition.

This is the story of the family and traditions that inspired that phenomenal gift, which took 116 boys and girls through six years of public school life on the wings of one woman's determination to make a difference in their lives.

While the problems confronting the octogenarian "grandmom" and her "Risers" were formidable—discipline, pregnancies, lack of motivation, and a disturbing acceptance of the possibility of death at an early age—Hayre forthrightly proclaims "this is a book about winning. It is also a book about loss—but not about losing." It is about overcoming fierce struggles and sorrows with newfound reserves of untapped strengths, the gift of mother wit, and the resilience of grace.

Hayre introduces us to Tenishia, Wendell, Shawn, Yvonne, Latika, and Hasaan, among others, for Tell Them We Are Rising is also their story. It is the story of a young boy determined to attend the high school of his choice, even if it means trekking six hours to and from classes. It is the story of a young girl raising her brothers and sisters in a home where chaos is a constant, and still managing to graduate on time. Above all, Tell Them We Are Rising is a celebration of a dedicated teacher whose guidance, generosity, and vision transformed despair into hope for a generation of children.

"Tell Them We Are Rising is a wonderful, inspiring story of service, commitment, generosity, love, and hope. It is written with the humor, wisdom, and grace of a bygone era, yet spiced with the ultra-modern savvy and the future-oriented vision of a twenty-year-old. What an extraordinary woman! What an extraordinary life!" —Chaka Fattah Congressman, 2nd District, Pennsylvania

"This is a heart-warming story about struggle, survival, and achievement. If we didn't know people like this in our lives, we would want to invent them. What more could one ask? A good story told with a deft hand." —William H. Gray III President, United Negro College Fund ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This is a very well written, consise overview of the Battle of Gettysburg!
In the 1850s the Northerners and Southerners were not seeing eye to eye and their differences became more glaring and their relationship strained.The Northerners wanted amore centralized federal government that would abolish slavery, whereas the Southerners, who had plantations, favored slavery.In 1860 when Lincoln was elected president, a president who was against slavery, the nation split.The eleven southernmost states seceded and "formed their own nation called the Confederate States."In 1861 Confederate rebels attack the Union (northern states) at Fort Sumter.The bloody Civil war had only just begun.

The Union had more troops, but the Confederacy was winning more battles.Two years into the conflict Lincoln appointed Major General George Mead "the Union Army's new commanding officer" in an effort to keep the Union from advancing into the capital.General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army was intent on capturing Gettysburg in order to gain a better position in hopes of capturing Washington.It was a risk he needed to take. He tried to bluff the Union forces by sending J. E. B. Stuart, "the eyes of the army," on a cavalry mission to divert their attention away from the trickle of Lee's oncoming forces to Gettysburg.The bluff worked, but soon Union major general John Buford spotted large numbers of Union troops.

On July 1, 1863 they began to battle.Buford's position was weakening, but the Iron Brigade fortuitously arrived.Unfortunately by the day's end two-thirds of the Brigade had lost their lives.They were weakening and took up position at Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill.There was uncertainty on both sides.General Lee waited for the rest of his troops and wanted to pull back his fighting men.Meade was relentless.On the Confederate side James Longstreet and Richard S. Ewell begged to differ with Lee on strategy and decided to stick with his own plans.You can read about the rest of this battle and the disastrous results to the troops on both sides in which "more than seventy-five hundred died in battle."

The Battle of Gettysburg is one in a series of six fantastic books in the "What Would you Do?" series, one is which the student will learn about decision making, good and bad, and its consequences.This book is very well written and is a concise overview of the battle.At the end of each chapter the question, "What would you do?" is asked and one or more possible outcomes are given for discussion or thought.In the next chapter the student will find out what actually happened.The book has numerous photographs, art reproductions, maps, a timeline, an index, words to know (the words are highlighted in bold throughout the text) and additional recommended book and internet resources are given.What side was your state on during the conflict? ... Read more